New Member from Pacific Northwest

[atl2pdx]

Hi Guys,

I'm a new member from Eugene, OR (The Euge) and have a (new-to-me) '05 ZHP vert, sparkling graphite with grey interior and black roof. This thing is amazing! I had driven a couple 330s and a ZHP before buying this car but WOW! I had no idea this thing was going to handle the way it does. Holy crap! It's awesome! It was impeccably maintained and had 37k miles- absolutely pristine and bone stock.

I had a 98 528 for 10 years- most reliable car I've ever owned and the only car I've never gotten bored with, but it was time to move on. I told myself many years ago when I got rid of my motorcycle (a K75s) that I'd get a vert and Hot D@mn! Sorry I know I'm gushing.

I do have a couple of noob-type questions the answers to which I haven't been able to find here or at e46fanatics yet. First- I'd like to install an iphone / ipod adapter (as that seems to be the only thing missing on this amazing machine) and have decided on the USA SPEC (per the various experiences related here and on other forums). I need to find out how to determine if I my HK non-nav HU is a "DSP" or not. Second- the car is equipped with OEM bluetooth. While I've been able to pair my iphone with it, I haven't been able to get much else to happen. Any tips or tricks to using it (forum entries to point me at)? Any help or direction you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I am really enjoying this Forum and I especially appreciate how knowledgeable, polite and relatively free of snark the posts are (loved the "you know you have a zhp when" thread- that was great!). You guys really know your stuff and I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you and sharing my experiences, too. I'll be posting pictures pretty soon, but right now I'm just too busy driving!

Cheers- Ben

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Ben, welcome to the forum. I am sure that people more knowledgeable than me will chime in on your questions.

[Hermes]

Welcome Ben. Not sure what you mean by DSP. As for the Bluetooth I'm guessing you're trying the trick where you go into the iPhone voicemail and tell it to use bluetooth then play your music? That trick doesnt seem to work anymore, I'm guessing Apple combated it during one of their firmware upgrades. I've also heard that Apple supposedly makes a killing because of all the accessories they sell by not allowing this to happen.

[atl2pdx]

Hi Hermes,

Thanks for your response. USA Spec makes the distinction between HUs with DSP and Non-DSP. I think DSP stands for Digital Signal Processor, from what I've been able to gather. As far as BT, I haven't tried the trick you're talking about; I'd just be happy if I could get the thing to read my phone book and make a call! -Ben

[Hermes]

I see. Well to read your phonebook its that button on your steering wheel that says "R/T" which I assume means Radio/Telephone. Press that and it switches to your phonebook but its a pain to find somebody in there if their name doesn't start with A or Z. I just setup the voice command for dialing people.

[static667]

Welcome to the Mafia. There are no n00b questions here, we just call it mafia search.

[Audi 0000]

:hi Hello. Everyone here seems great at answering questions and helping out. Enjoy

[danewilson77]

Sup Hermes?

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

Welcome to the Family.

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[billschusteriv]

Hey Ben! Welcome to the Mafia!

I'm sure we can get some answers to your questions... or at least get you going in the right direction. There were some decent DIY's re:iPhone adapters on Bimmerforums when I was there over a year ago. But like you, I enjoy our atmosphere here and haven't really looked back since.

If anyone else has a decent writeup or link, maybe they can post it?

[mimalmo]

Welcome.

[johnrando]

A few days late, but welcome. I can't answer your iPod questions as I have Dice and Parrot for my bluetooth and iPod.

[atl2pdx]

Hi all,

So after a couple of weeks driving the vert, I'm still lovin it- top down at every chance. I have noticed a few performance-related things while driving around town that surprise me and I thought I throw 'em out here to see if it's typical behavior or unique to my car. When driving around town I feel that I have push the car and I'm wondering if it's the added rolling resistance of the ZHP wheels, as they're so low profile- my 528 had 15's on it so it's taking a little getting used to. It's not so noticeable on the freeway.

Next, when going downhill the hill/brake-assist (dsc?) kicks in and down shifts like mad, sucking the fun out of the rapid descent. I tried re-mapping the throttle and that lessened the effect somewhat.

Finally, my mileage could be better I think- combined 25mpg on a trip to Portland last weekend- 90% hwy. I'm wondering if cleaning the MAF might have much effect. Thoughts? Oh yeah- I picked up the USA-SPEC iphone adapter and will be installing it this weekend. From what I've read here, seems like a relatively straight forward install. I'll let you know how it goes! And thanks for any advice / ideas about any of the above. Cheers- Ben

edit: should have mentioned that my tires are inflated to spec on the door panel.

[johnrando]

The highway MPG seems normal to me, although some people do get better highway, 25 is around what I get. Mine downshifts going down hills too, as I'm usually not stepping on the throttle due to the propensity of LEO at the bottom of the hills with radar guns. AFA wheels, can't answer that one, but I'm also not quite sure what you mean. I do recall driving a 90's era 5 series with much larger wheels than I ever drove on an it felt "heavy", but I'm not sure if that is what you mean by "pushing". And, generally speaking, BMW steering does feel "heavy" when compared to non-BMWs.

[danewilson77]

Your MPG is normal....for average.

Cleaning ICV, MAF sensor, fresh plugs, tires, alignment...may help a tad.

[atl2pdx]

Thanks very much for the help guys. You're right, Johnrando, the '98 528 drives very heavy and maybe it's just the comparison between the two that has me thinking that the 3 feels sluggish when coasting / not under throttle.

[bcleaver]

Welcome. Love Eugene. Ninkasi is one of my favorites.